Have you been convinced of the Justice of God how justly God might have damned you for the least sinne that ever you were guilty of that the great God hath cast many thousands into Hell for farre lesse sins then you have committed that it was ten thousand to one that you had not been lost that God hath been infinitely patient and forbearing towards you Rom. 2.4 Gen â— 17 7. Have you been convinced of your unworthinesse that you deserve for ever to be rejected of God and never to be received into favour with him Jerem 32.10 Phil. 3.7 8 9. 8. Have you understood seriously considered what it will cost you to be Christians indeed many as I have often told you when they are a little startled and awaked by the terrors of the Almighty make some foolish desperate resolutions and attempts to change their course of life and go on so to doe for a while but when they meet with stormes and tempests they change their minds and go back with the dogge to their vomit 2 Pet. 2.22 Math. 13.21 Luk. 14.28 to 34. have you conâ—â—dered that it will cost you the losse of Father and Mother wife and Children yea it may be your own lives also that you must take up Christs yoake and follow him Luk. 14.26.27 and are you resolved notwithstanding to be Christians can you say that none of these things move you you care not what you suffer or undergoe so that you may winne Christ and be found in him Phil. 3.7 8 9. 9. Hath God followed these convictions have they been revived againe when they have been dying or sleeping have they spurr'd you on to Christ and to a more dilligent and earnest enquiry after God and your selves Phil. 1.6 Phil. 2.13 Joh. 16.9 10. Did sinne lye so heavy upon your Consciences and the sence of Divine wrath as to make you restlessely and unweariedly to make out after Jesus Christ for rest and peace Math. 11.28.29 and when you went about to quiet your Consciences with your prayers or the good opinion of the Saints or your reformation or resting upon any other broken reeds or sparkes of your own kindling Did the blessed God fetch you off and continually pursue your Consciences untill he had brought your wills to choose and accept of Jesus Christ upon his own termes and that freely without looking back with reluctancy of Spirit c. finding a kind of loathnesse and unwillingnesse to foregoe your Idols but you could cherefully and heartily cast them all away can you remember that the Lord hath brought you so farre and is still carrying on the worke in your hearts can you find that your hearts were and still are drawn to go to the free grace and mercy of God in and by Iesus Christ by his blood and righteousnesse and in the sight and sense of your own lost miserable and woefull estate and condition being sinners and in the sense of your own vilenesse sinfullnesse unworthinesse insufficiency say sincerly heartily Oh Lord here is a poor wretched sinfull Creature come to thee for to be justifyed and pardoned Oh Lord I doe abhorre my selfe and all my own Righteousnesse I am a poor begger miserable blind naked Oh Lord I am a condemned person cast and lost and I am like to perish for ever by thy righteous Law but Oh I heare that there is another Court of Iustice and mercy erected for poor sinners to appeale unto and I am invited nay commanded to make my appeale there Lord I come unto thy free grace and mercy nay Lord I come to thy Justice in Ghrists name 1 Joh. 1.9 I believe that he came into the world to save sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 and that he hath satisfyed thy Justice that he obeyed thy Law that thou art well pleased with him Lord thou hast made thy Sonne to be sinne for some persons that they may be made Righteous by him he bore the sins of many yea for all that come unto thee by him with speciall Faith Oh Lord I desire to be made Righteous by his blood righteousnesse to have Redemption through his blood Oh Lord if it may please thee to Justify me for his sake Oh thou that justifies the ungodly own me and be well pleased with me use me in thy worke I shall account it my greatest happinesse Oh Lord whatever hath separated between me and thee heretofore I doe utterly and heartily renounce abhorre and forsake all my beloved sinnes all my beloved Righteousnesse that I may have Communion with thee that I may no more dishonour thee Oh Lord I have been a willing servant to sinne and the Divell but unwilling to serve thee but oh Lord now I am willing to cast of Sathan's service and to engage in thy service I preserre thy ways and thy Commandements tenthousand times before my old ways Oh Lord I have delighted in sinne but now in Holinesse to please my lusts but now to please my God Oh Lord I am willing to have an interest in Jesus Christ upon any termes send me where thou wilt do with me as it shall seem good unto thee only deny me not an interest in thy Son in thy speciall Love Oh for Christ for Christ am I come give me Christ else I dye I will hang upon thy invitation thy command thy promise Joh. 7.37 1 John 3.23 Joh. 6.37 Oh Lord thou hast invited sinners to come in and be reconciled unto thee O Lord thou hast intreated and beseeched sinners 2 Cor. 5.20 to accept of the termes of reconciliation Oh Lord I doe come I am a sinner I am one of them that is invited 't is true I am a great sinner oh yet I am but a sinner Oh I am willing now to be saved in the same way that Paul was Oh Lord why not I why not I seeeing that sinners are invited yea whoever will let him come O Lord thou hast commanded sinners such as see themselves lost to look upon thy mercy and Grace in Christ and be Saved Is 45.22 Oh Lord I come in Obedience to thy command I am resolved to hang here Yea Lord thou hast promised never to cast off such as come unto thee Oh Lord I 'll hang upon thy faithfullnesse and promise Oh let me find favour I am resolved to take no denyall I will not be put off without thee Lord Jesus I am resolved to be like the importunate Widdow Luk. 18.1 2 3 4. I will keep crying and praying Oh Lord 't is for my life Oh Lord thou hast been a long time waiting to be gracious unto me now I will wait for thee to answer my petition thou hast been many yeares wooing of me to gaine my Love and consent to marry thy Sonne Oh Lord now I 'll woe thee Oh now I consent freely Now with all my heart I am ready to contract with him here is my soule and body and all is ready for him Oh if I might but hear one comfortable word from
Lord do not give Jesus Christ cause to complain of you that his adversary the Divell hath better servants then he do not make Christ ashamed of you t is a shame to Christ to have dead lifelesse members when your hearts begin to flagg and to lose their activity then go to him for life who is the fountain of Life Ioh. 10.10 Psal 36 9. Isa 55.1 16. Labour to have alwaies upon your hearts the allseeing eye of God Consider that God sees all your thoughts intentions and all your contrivements he pondereth all your wayes yea there is not a thought in your hearts but he knoweth it altogether Christians know that God doth very narrowly pâ—y into all your aymes and ends more then into others he loves the feet of his Saints Oh my friends this will keep you from the entertaining of many idle thoughts and vaine words from misspending of precious time from sinfull selfish aims and ends in what you doe it will be a meanes to make you walk warily and circumspectly before God Saints and sinners and prevent backsliding from God Psal 139.4 Prov. 5.21 Jer 17.10 17. Labour to be much affected with Gods favours to you but especially with the God of the Favours and mercies and endeavour to be very thankfull for them for soule mercies and bodily mercies Labour to see the true and full worth of the mercies that you enjoy consider that you are lesse then the least of them consider that all your injoyments all your mercies for your soules and bodies are given to you upon a speciall account they are new Covenant mercies and the Lord Jesus hath purchased them for you so long as you have a low esteem of mercies you cannot be affectionately thankfull for them Oh redeeming mercy electing mercy calling converting mercy confirming and coâ—forting mercies Oh how great is persevering mercy teaching and soule strengthening mercies oh your great Gospel mercies your Ordinary mercy your mercies of peace health and Liberty which all of the Lords precious Saints in the world cannot enjoy Math. 13.16 17. 18. Keep to the good way of God wherein you have walked and wherein you have found God sweetly revealing of himselfe unto you and take heed that you turne not aside to the right hand or to the left Oh labour to be stayd stable strong Christians take heed that you be not soon shaken in mind for t is a good thing that your hearts be established with grace let no man deceive you with vaine words and draw you back again from your faith and practice to the old corrupt formall way of worshiping God againe Oh let not the flatteries or frownes or reproaches of men though from your nearest relations in the least measure cause you to faint in your spirits or cause you in the least to decline from the ways of God if any man draw boâ—k saith God my soule shall have no pleasure in him think not that you doe not walk inthe ways of God because wicked men reproach you for so doing no my brethren but rather use it as an argument that you are in the way because you are reproached by such men Consider that so long as you walked as the world did and there was no difference between you and them they did not trouble you Gods owning of you and visiting you so often with such sweet expressions of love should confirme you in your principles and walking against all the Arguments of men Eph. 4.14 Heb. 13.9 2 Pet. 1.12 Gal 6.9 Heb. 12.3 4 5. Ioh. 15.18 19. 19. Let all that you doe all your purposes and intentions all your thoughts and words or as many as possble be directed to exalt the name of God When you heare the word preached heare for God that you may be made more like unto him that your hearts may be brought nearer unto him that you may know more of his will that you may doe more and so when you pray or converse with the people of God or with sinners pray for to exalt and honour him converse for God labour in all your callings and worldly businesses for God you will loose all your Labour cost and paines that you lay out and spend in any good work if you doe not intend for God and give it to him 1 Cor. 10.31 Col. 3.23 Prov. 3.6 20. I beseech you in the last place give diligent heed to these Rules that you have promised to walk by Labour to understand to remember and to practise every one of them so farre as they are practicall oh beloved your priviledges are many and great as you have oftentimes acknowledged to God and therefore be sure that your duties are many and great God having done more for you then for others oh therefore be more wise more holy more circumspect more loving more fruitfull more diligent and more faithfull then others oh labour to be more humble more sincere and more abounding in the work of the Lord. Oh my beloved friends in the Lord Jesus how insinitely are you ingaged to God you owe your selves and all your enjoyments unto him he hath kept back nothing from you that might doe you good he hath freely given his own Son his holy spirit oh rejoce in God and love and feare and honour him think nothing too much that you can doe to honour him he was contriving and lying out his thoughts from all eternity about your salvation contriving how to make you everlastingly honourable and happy Consider my deare friends you have but a few days to worke and suffer here you are drawing towards your rest oh how blessed will you be if you shall continue stedfast and unmovable in your walking with God unto the end Oh my Friends keep close to God he will keep with you he will not depart from you if you will not depart from him 2 Cron. 15.2 your God and Father will delight to do you good you may have the liberty to aske what you will and it shall be done if good for you oh fight strongly against your spirituall enemies you must fight before you can overcome before you can be crowned as conquerers even as Jesus Christ himselfe hath done for us and before us surely if we will be partakers with Christ in his Crown and Glory we must first suffer and worke with him Consider all the goodworkes that you shall performe in sincerity for the glory of God shall all be remembred at the last day to the infinite and endlesse Joy and comfort of your soules all your sufferings for Righteousnesse sake shall be abundantly rewarded feare not litle slock it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you a Kingdome your Lord and Saviour will shortly come and see you he will fetch you home unto himselfe when your enemies shall have that dreadfull sentence depart from me ye cursed he will say to you come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome of Glory now you that have followed me shall sit upon twelve Thrones
thee about it Oh that I might see but one smile but one good look to encomage me to continue my suit Oh Lord the end of my coming to thee is that I may be made holy as well as happy to be saved from sinne as well as from wrath Oh Lord if thou shouldest reject me I shall dishonour thee to all eternity the thoughts whereof is burthen some to mee if thou shalt please to accept me and adopt me into that family and ingraft me into Christ I shall live to thy honour and glory Oh Lord when bloody persecuting Paul sought for favour for acceptance when Mary Magdalene and other great sinners came to thee for pardon thou didst accept them O Lord thou art as full of Mercy and goodnesse as ever oh for Christs sake for Love and Mercy sake Oh for the Honour and prayse of thy great name pardon love receive me into thine arms of Love Hath the Lord dealt thus with you have you been thus brought to Christ could you never be quiet and satisfyed untill you had peace spoken to you by Christ in answer to your constant and importunate suits and petitions oh then be of good comfort Christ is thine the spirit of God is in thee thou hast an interest in the speciall Love of God and in the Govenant of Grace thou mayst go on tryumphing over sinne death and hell who shall lay any thing to your charge Rom. 8. Christ is at the right hand of the Father for you Oh but beloved your worke is not yet at an end you may not think that it is enough that you are in Christ and Christ in you that now you may fit still and be idle no you just now beginne to worke you never served Christ till he brought you home unto himselfe Oh then now up and be doing and the Lord will be with you My beloved the reason why I have given these few trialls and desired you to try your estates by them is that you may go on in the practice of your duty to God and man the more freely quietly and Comfortably for I am very sensible what advantage the Devill hath upon poor Believers in their Christian walking when they are always upon every temptation ready to doubt whether they are in Christ when they should go about their masters businesse the Divell would faine perswade them that they are not his servants and that they have no relation to him his end is to render their lives uncomfortable and unfruitfull but now when poor soules are sure that they have thus been brought to Christ as before and reasoning thus well I can say that I have been thus drawn to Christ I have chosen him upon his own termes and he hath said he will cast off none that so come to him well I will cast my soule upon his word I l'e trust him with my selfe and all my concernements I le care for nothing but how I may live and honour God how I may bring forth fruite to him I am commanded to cast all my care on him 1 Pet. 5.7 Phil. 4. and to commit my selfe unto him in well doing well I will goe about my Fathers worke and doe what he hath commanded me I beseech you minde this in the whole course of your lives when you are tempted to neglect your worke and fall back to distrustfull feares and doubts about your estates oh then stand up stoutly and be not overtaken with the tempters wiles and you will find it very advantageous to your soules 2. If upon due triall and search you can find that you have been convineed emptyed and humbled and at last brought to Christ as you have heard Oh then be sure there to rest and rely let the free Grace and Mercy of God in and by Christ and the blood and Righteousnesse of Christ manifested and held forth in the Promises be the foundation you rest upon rest there for continuall pardon for acceptance for all supplys of Grace all must come from thence here God will finde you and you shall find God this is your greatest duty yea and your greatest priviledge a priviledge farre greater then Adams Now to move you and presse you to this great duty 1. Consider that it is an easier matter then most of the Lords people think it is to rest and live upon some broken Cistern Jer. 2.13 after that they are in Christ and are Justifyed As first upon Prayer when they have prayed with more affection then ordinarily they doe or secondly upon brokennesse and enlargement of heart or thirdly on former experiences they are of singular use but not to be refted upon not to be set up in the roome of Christ fourthly on grace in them on knowledge faith or love or patience fiftly or on obedience your care to please God your respect unto his Commands beloved you are to blesse God that he hath wrought these things in you and labour to be eminent in them but if you rest and relie upon those or the like expect acceptance because of these things to have your wants supplyed because it is so with you or that God is therefore engaged to you to do you good herein you greatly erre now that you may see that it is an easy thing thus to doe take notice 2. Chron. 14.11 compared 2 Chr. 16.1 to the end Gen. 20.2 Math. 26. 2. Be sure that your old selfish principle will draw you in servility to rest upon something of your own though not altogether as you did before Christ and you were one yet in part it will be so 3. You will exceedingly wrong your own soules if you doe not rest on God and relie wholly on him in Christ as you have heard 4. How unworthy will it be of your profession to Iesus Christ for when you were burdened with your sinnes you sought for ease and reliefe to other helpes and Savioures but they could give you none and being perswaded to goe to Christ alone and to cast all your burdens on him Math. 11.28 29. when you promised him that if he would receive you and take of the guilt of sin from you you would for ever rest on him wholy cast your selves upon him now you have obtained your hearts desire of him be sure it is expected that you should make good your promise live out your profession which you made to him in time of trouble Christ will take it very ill at your hands if now you should neglect him and trust to those things that could not helpe you in time of need Judg. 10.12 13 14. 5. You will cause the Lord Iesus to leave you to your selves yea in time of need when you shall go to him for helpe he will bid you go unto your Gods Judg. 10.14 he will withdraw from you and suspend his strengthening Grace his teaching and comforting presence if you doe rest upon and trust in any other 6. Consider that Christ alone can supply all your wants